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| Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet Going over the numbers from a successful blood drive were, from left, NHS Executive Council Member and Student Council President Meredith Sleeper, NHS Vice President Mackenzie Belyea and NHS President Devin Ballard. |
Contributed by
Meredith Sleeper
Student Council President and NHS Executive Council Member
CARIBOU — Every year, the Caribou High School Student Council sponsors a Blood Drive. The American Red Cross truck arrives around 6:30 a.m. along with many student volunteers. Throughout the day Student Council members work the Blood Drive to sign people in, go get people from class, walk people from the donation area to the canteen and help out at the canteen table. At the canteen, the donors are given a drink and a snack to eat.
The Dec. 6 blood drive would not have been successful without the hard work of the Student Council volunteers who not only work the day of the drive, but also many weeks prior to secure donors. Each member is responsible for signing up five community members, faculty or students.
This year, our drive was held from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. and had 88 total sign-ins, 82 presenting donors, 54 productive procedures and 58 productive units of blood collected. Each unit of blood saves roughly three lives.
This number does not seem valuable until you hear of personal experiences where blood transfusions are needed. One teacher was informed by a student this year that this was the first drive they were able to donate in (as donors must be at least 16 years old) and the student was donating blood in memory of their mother, who had recently passed away with a cancer that caused her to need numerous blood transfusions to live.
These stories are what makes this blood driving so meaningful and rewarding. We are hoping to set a date to have another blood drive in March.
